Reinstate the exemption for single sex institutions

This past fall, International Quidditch Association issued their decision to ban single sex institutions' teams from competition.

This ban is unnecessary and unfair. The participation of single sex teams (women’s teams, as no male teams exist) in the league as IQA official teams poses no threat to any other teams’ right to fair competition; a coed team, facing any women’s team, has no reason to feel at a disadvantage during play. The inclusion of women’s teams in competitions for the past two years (counting from when Smith Quidditch became an official IQA team) has not given any team an unfair advantage, nor has it threatened the equal playing field which the IQA has strived to create in their efforts to encourage respect between members of different genders. This ban on women’s teams, far from supporting this goal of equality, works against it. Women have the right to compete without restriction in any sport, including the sport of Quidditch. When they are restricted to minor roles on coed teams, and banned from competing on their own teams and winning by their own strength (when they are told that legitimate teams must have men), they are marginalized in the sport.

For the women’s teams in the IQA, and the women’s teams which are just getting started, the IQA's decision is central to their future. They shoud be allowed full participation in IQA competition, without requiring them to recruit and give preference to male players. Quidditch is a sport for everyone, and it is unfair and illogical to reject a considerable portion of our community.

I am signing this petition to protest the International Quidditch Association’s decision to ban single sex institutions' teams from competition.

This ban is unnecessary and unfair. The participation of single sex teams (women's teams, as no male teams exist) in the league as IQA official teams poses no threat to any other teams’ right to fair competition; a coed team, facing any women’s team, has no reason to feel at a disadvantage during play. The inclusion of women’s teams in competitions for the past two years (counting from when Smith Quidditch became an official IQA team) has not given any team an unfair advantage, nor has it threatened the equal playing field which the IQA has strived to create in their efforts to encourage respect between members of different genders. This ban on women’s teams, far from supporting this goal of equality, works against it. Women have the right to compete without restriction in any sport, including the sport of Quidditch. When they are restricted to minor roles on coed teams, and banned from competing on their own teams and winning by their own strength (when they are told that legitimate teams must have men), they are marginalized in the sport.

On behalf of the women’s teams in the IQA, and the women’s teams which are just getting started, I ask you, the governing members of the IQA, to reconsider your decision. I ask that you allow women’s teams full participation in IQA competition, without requiring them to recruit and give preference to male players. Quidditch is a sport for everyone, and it is unfair and illogical to reject a considerable portion of our community.